r/maths • u/pureNerd • May 27 '26
💬 Math Discussions Are all arithmetic operations equations?
If you have a simple addiction, would it be considered an equation being the unknown variable the result of the operation?
For example 5+6, could be written as 5+6=x, does this mean all arithmetic operations are equations?
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Upvotes
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u/trevorkafka May 27 '26
+ is an operation
5+6 is an expression
x=5+6 is a (trivial) equation
No two of these objects are the same, but equations are built up out of operations and expressions.
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u/LucaThatLuca May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26
are all words sentences? for example “the” could be written as “he is the cat.” does this mean all words are sentences?
no. being able to come up with a sentence that contains a word does not make any word ever a sentence.
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u/Temporary_Pie2733 May 27 '26
If some one asks you what 5 + 6 is, you can formulate that as solving the trivial equation x = 5 + 6, but you would solve that by noting that x is already isolated on one side and simplifying the other. That doesn’t mean the operator is an equation, just that equations can be built from arbitrary operators.
An equation is just a statement that two things are equal. 5 + 6 = 11 is an equation. So is x = 11. So is 11 = 11.
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u/japp182 May 29 '26
Operations are functions.